Dr. Dugar is an internationally well-known scientist and a serial entrepreneur. For over 21 years Dr. Dugar devoted his efforts into the discovery and development of innovative pharmaceuticals in the areas of cardiovascular diseases, inflammatory diseases, and cancer. He has co-authored over 60 publications and presentations, and is named as co-inventor on over 80 issued and/or applied patents.

Dr. Dugar has held numerous leadership positions in research and development in various pharmaceutical companies, including Schering-Plough Research Institute, Bristol-Myers Squibb Pharmaceutical Research Institute, and Johnson & Johnson. While at Schering-Plough, Dr. Dugar, together with his colleagues, were co-inventors of, and made critical contributions to the invention of ZETIA® and VYTORIN®, the two cholesterol-lowering blockbuster drugs, and won the US National Inventor of the Year Award in 2005. His helped establish the small molecule Drug Discovery and Development Program at Scios, Inc., which yielded multiple clinical drug candidates in 3 years, and had led to the acquisition of Scios by Johnson & Johnson for $2.4 billion in 2002. In addition, to his contribution to drug discovery and development over the years, Dr. Dugar has won numerous awards including New Jersey R&D Council’s Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award 2002, and American Chemical Society Heroes of Chemistry Award in 2004.

Currently Dr. Dugar is focusing on building an international drug discovery and development platform based in the US, Singapore and India. He has been a founder or co-founder of biopharmaceutical startup companies, and currently serves as President and CEO of Sphaera Pharma Pte. Ltd. He is a trustee of the University of California at Davis, Foundation Board, and an adjunct professor at the Institute of Life Sciences, Hyderabad, India.

Dr. Dugar graduated with a M.S. degree in Chemistry from Delhi University in 1980, a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from the University of California at Davis in 1984. Dr. Dugar conducted his postdoctoral research at Cornell University and at Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Zurich, Switzerland.